<\/a>
\nSharmonica Carter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyonc\u00e9 Giselle Knowles better known as \u201cQueen Bey\u201d took the world by surprise when she released her new debut album entitled \u201cBeyonce.\u201d The album includes 14 songs and 14 videos and an additional three videos, including the hit singles \u201cDrunk in Love\u201d featuring Jay-Z and \u201cFlawless (Bow Down)\u201d, featuring Chimanda Ngozi Adichie.<\/p>\n

The visual album, as she calls it, was released on iTunes without any marketing or promotion in December. Knowles\u2019 self titled album sold 80,000 units in the first three hours and 878,773 thousand in the first three days. Major retailer, Target, decided not to sell Beyonc\u00e9s album because it was released online first. However, this has not prevented the album from becoming a commercial success. According to Billboard.com, the album has sold over a million copies since its release.<\/p>\n

During a series of mini documentaries detailing its background on her YouTube channel, Beyonc\u00e9 tells a little history behind the album. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe glue that ties this record together is honesty. I started out when I was 9 with the group of Destiny\u2019s Child. And our first album came out when I was 15. I was a child but now I\u2019m in my 30\u2019s, and those children who grew up listening to me have grown up,\u201d said Knowles in the documentary.<\/p>\n

The Houston, Texas native continued, \u201cI always felt like it was my responsibility to be aware of the kids and their parents and all these generations. I felt like it stifled me. I felt like\u2026 in a sense, I could not express everything. I\u2019ve done so many things in my life, in my career, that at this point I feel like I\u2019ve earned the right to be me and express any and every side of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album is very different from anything Knowles has done in the past because of its sexual themes and a rare glimpses of a deep-seated attitude that compliments her usual confidence. Beyonc\u00e9 also takes listeners on a journey through her mind and soul with her honest thoughts and ideas about a myriad of topics. It is her first album to ever come with a Parental Advisory Warning.<\/p>\n

Previously, Beyonc\u00e9 released her album entitled \u201c4\u201d which was also a best seller that featured #1 hits \u201cInto You\u201d and \u201cBest Thing I Never Had\u201d.<\/p>\n

Despite her popularity, some Jackson State University students are not fans of the Grammy Award Winning superstar, but respect what she has accomplished. <\/p>\n

Quintin Love, a junior Mass Communications major said, \u201cI don\u2019t really listen to Beyonc\u00e9 like that but she\u2019s nice to look at. I can assume that she has come far in her career because she can pull numbers like that in a music environment where everybody downloads for free. That means her fan base is really strong.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s more than music when you think about it. It\u2019s popular. I see the \u201cDrunk in Love\u201d song everywhere. Instagram, Facebook. It had to be word of mouth because she dropped it out of nowhere. Jay-Z put out his album but he had a lot of promotion but Beyonc\u00e9 did almost the same numbers with no promotion.\u201d <\/p>\n

Traci Tolliver, a freshman criminal justice major from New Orleans, La. said, \u201cI like the album. I think the way she put out the album made her stand out in the music industry. The way she was able to just drop her album and her videos is impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other students enjoyed the album, but were caught off guard by her new direction.<\/p>\n

Marisha Standifer, a freshman computer science major from Memphis, Tenn. said, \u201cThe song \u201cDrunk in Love\u201d is not her kind of music. It\u2019s out of her place. If you listen to \u201cDangerously in Love\u201d, it\u2019s a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torrie Williams, a freshman biology\/pre-vet major from Jackson, Miss. agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore people can relate to some of her older music than what she put out on this album because it seems weird.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mark Braboy contributed to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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